


February Phone Call

by Kattwyllie



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 02:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29619051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattwyllie/pseuds/Kattwyllie
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	February Phone Call

The chilly February air seemed to be seeping through all the cracks, finding its way into your previously warm apartment. You put on a fresh pot of coffee and pulled out a spare hoodie that had been lying over the back of the couch. Grumbling you scanned through the fridge, a few probably way too old take out containers, some wilted spinach, a case of pop you’d bought when you were babysitting your nieces, and condiments. Yeah. You definitely needed to go shopping. 

It was still early enough you opted to order some breakfast right away, using the waiting time to put in a grocery order for the next afternoon while you sipped on fresh coffee in an attempt to warm you up. Making sure the heat was ticked up a few notches, you grabbed your delivery from the door and bundled yoruself on the couch, brooding over mindless t.v while you ate. You were incredibly thankful that Oliva had approved the few personal days off you’d asked for. 

Not that the entire team hadn’t been going through a gong show of a month and a half, Barba of all people ended up facing a trail as the defendant after turning off Baby Drew’s life support. Then you had to adjust to having a new A.D.A who was the one who prosecuted Rafael. It was the middle of winter and it was safe to say you all needed a break. Rafael had come to say good bye to you before he left New York, it was a complicated situation, and neither of you really knew how to handle it or how to feel about it. He was going through a rough patch already, trying to figure out how to reroute his entire career this late in his life, realizing that the things he was so passionate about upholding may not be as important as he’d previously thought. 

About a year before the incident, the two of you had casually starting sleeping together. One drunken night of post trial drinks lead to waking up at his apartment. Thankfully there was no awkwardness, even as you returned to work the following Monday, you were able to keep your secret. Then it happened again, this time after only one drink, and you spent half of the next day together at your apartment ordering take out and lounging. You became better friends, often turning to each other during tricky or rough cases, but all of this was still kept relatively private. Everyone thought and believed that you were just friends, even Amanda didn’t pry into any of it. 

Anything that did happen between you was spontaneous, never planned, there were never any fancy nights out or homemade meals for date nights. It was usually a series of texts leading to you meeting for a drink, or just needing a friend, whether those nights ended tangled in each other’s sheets depended on the mood. You never put a label on it, there were never really any feelings past sexual attraction and companionship, it just worked. 

Which it why when suddenly he was on trial, you weren’t sure how to feel, aside from worried as a coworker and friend. And when he made the decision to leave the city, why he was hesitant about turning up on your doorstep to say goodbye. It hadn’t particularly been painful, you exchanged best wishes, you reminded him that he was worthy, and that he’d find whatever calling in life was out there for him, to not come down to hard on himself. He reminded you to try to keep Carisi in line while he wasn’t around, to stop drinking such crappy quality coffee, and that he would miss you the most.

Halfway through the day, right as you were dumping a pack of ramen noodles you’d found stashed in the back of a cupboard into a pot, your phone went off. You prayed it wasn’t work, and your brow furrowed when it was a number you didn’t have saved. Although that probably meant it _was_ work, and even worse, was a victim or witness you’d given your card to.

“Detective Coulter, special victims.”

“Well that was a much nicer greeting than I usually get.” The voice teased from the other end, you pulled your phone back, double checking the number before you spoke again,

“Rafael?”

“Oh c’mon, I haven’t been gone long enough for you to forget what my voice sounds like, have I?”

“Oh please at the amount you talk I’ll never be able to forget it. The sarcasm will drip from your words forever.”

“Good.” He teased back, then sighed slightly, “hope I’m not interrupting a busy day.”

“No,” you pursed your lips, stirring at your pot of noodles, “I’m off for a couple days right now. You’ve caught me in the middle of wishing I’d actually gone shopping so I don’t have to eat the lunch of a broke college student.”

“Spaghetti with butter?” You laughed, 

“Close, found a pack of ramen from probably months ago.” There was a slight pause while you scooped out the noodles with some of the water, stirring in the flavouring, placing the bowl on the coffee table to cool for a moment.

“How’s the city?” Rafael asked, a hint of yearning in his voice.

“Bleak.” You replied, wrapping an arm around yourself as you stared out the window, “it’s freezing, been snowing for weeks. Basically since the day you left the weather always feels this way. Work’s not much better.” You groaned, dropping down on the couch, pulling the blanket back around you.

“Stone giving you guys too much crap?”

“More like the entire squad won’t even give him the time of day. I swear Liv spends half her shift glaring at him harder than the perps.”

“Ah..you’re all taking it personally, so…nothing’s changed.” He quipped and you snorted over a mouthful of noodles.

“How about you? Where even are you? I don’t know that area code.”

“Iowa..” he sighed, “some law school friend knew of a couple positions down here. With the election coming up in the next couple years it’s the easiest place to get work.”

“Ugh..politics.”

“Don’t remind me.” He chuckled, “there’s some big dinner gala tonight. I’d be there to see it but I can’t get out of bed.” Your face fell at his words, shoulders sinking at the thought of him all alone out in Iowa.

“Raf…” you heard him take a heavy breath on the other end of the line, “are you..holding up okay? I mean…that was a lot to go through, now you’re…not here.” There was a moment of silence before he replied,

“I’ll survive.”

“You know that’s not what I’m asking.” You knew he hated opening up, but he had a few times in the past to you, and he was the one who picked up the phone to call you after all.

“I think…part of my coping was to move away. Even if this is just temporary, I just…need to sort my thoughts out, figure out if what I was doing was what my life’s calling was or if I should try something else for a little bit.”

“Understandable.” Your eyes flicked up to the t.v where the afternoon news had taken over. They were covering a Valentine’s Event going on in Time’s Square and your brow cocked, “did…you purposely call me on Valentines Day?” He laughed softly at that.

“I missed you. But I can’t say my intentions were completely pure.”

“At 11:30 in the morning Raf!” You barked a laugh, “I mean I’m not against the idea but right now the only thing I’m stuffing my mouth with is noodles.” He laughed heartily at that and it warmed you to hear him sounding more like himself again for once. Suddenly your call waiting beeped, “shit, hold on, it’s Liv.”

Rafael waited, silence filling the phone while he started to pick through his own lunch. He figured if Liv was calling you’d have to cut your conversation short, even if you were off for the day. He did truthfully miss you, he missed the city, his Mami, the whole squad. He was still mentally coping with a lot, glad he had some money saved up to help him slowly slip into things in Iowa while he took a bit of a vacation to try and get his head on straight again.

“Hey, sorry.” You suddenly cut into his thoughts.

“I guess this date is over?”

“Yeah.” You huffed, “Carisi ate shit trying to jump over a fence, he needs a bunch of stitches but should be fine otherwise. I’ve gotta meet Rollins to cover for him.” Rafael couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the detective’s misfortune, picturing the lanky man taking a painful tumble while in pursuit.

“Okay. It was nice to talk to you.”

“Right back at you.” You smiled, “I’ll call you tonight? Completely impure intentions?”

“Mmm…that does sound enticing.” He smirked and you could hear it nearly drip through the phone.

“Course it does.” You moved off the couch, flicking off the t.v, “Happy Valentines Day Raf.”

“Happy Valentines.”


End file.
